Ski holiday

[Phil the Brit]

Need some help choosing a ski resort in Austria/France/Italy (but preferably Austria). I particularly would like recommendations on places that have predominately medium runs, toboggan run if possible, good lively nightlife, ski back to hotel/village, not too long a transfer time to resort.
I know I'm looking for utopia but any advise greatfully received. Going early January.
Thanks in advance
Phil

 

[lawco]

Phil,

I particularly liked Arnie's hometown Schladming. It has everything you describe and if you go when the night slalom race is on that is a very lively weekend and the race is epic!

Austria is probably my favourite skiing destination in Europe, the Austrian's are great fun. Not the best slopes but very friendly place.

Lee

 

[LeeH]

St Anton

1 hour transfer from Innsbruck, good varied slopes, bonkers nightlife if you want it and some great hotels.

Arlberg Hospiz in St Christoph is an amazing place to stay and has the largest privately owned wine cellar in Europe

 

[Maser Sod]

Yeah, St Anton is good.

I go to the Innsbruck area 3-4 times a season, and often jump on the train up to St Anton to ski it and enjoy the apres ski at the bottom of the hill.

 

[safrane]

Keep away from Courchevelle...its just full of Russians now and so over priced...sadly it was my haunt for the last 10 years but no more.

 

[BennyD]

The 'new Russians' seem to be taking over everywhere. They are a like a virus that keeps on spreading and in my experience they tend not to be very nice people.

 

[Parisien]

Just another new kid on the block...next year it will be the Bulgarians.......then the Irish again........then the Danes...whats new?

P

 

[safrane]

The 'new Russians' seem to be taking over everywhere. They are a like a virus that keeps on spreading and in my experience they tend not to be very nice people.

I agree, lost of money...very little taste or respect...I was in a restaurant two years ago and they took over the place spending thousands on Champagne, treating the staff like s**t and their ladies even more so...and constantly on their mobiles whilst eating...spoilt the night.

 

[Parisien]

Yeah...those that got it flaunt it...just a cultural difference..........and a throw back to the general lack of respect they have for their own fellow Russians....why behave any differently for the soft well mannered Western types?

P

 

[LeeH]

This is why I hide in the smaller far southern French resorts these days.

Better skiing and more locals than tourists

If anyone reads Fall Line magazine and has Decembers issue, they may even see a forum members picture in print, in one of said resorts ;-)

 

[Mr.Cambio]

Try Kitsbuhel. If you need a resort or a van for rent, drop me a line.

 

[TridentTested]

good lively nightlife, ski back to hotel/village, not too long a transfer time to resort.

+1 for St Anton to answer that brief.

 

[TridentTested]

I agree, lost of money...very little taste or respect...I was in a restaurant two years ago and they took over the place spending thousands on Champagne, treating the staff like s**t and their ladies even more so...and constantly on their mobiles whilst eating...spoilt the night.

The resorts are really gearing up to receive them these days and now have fluent Russian speaking staff and brochures etc in Russian, even small shops will have Russian speakers but a few years ago it was different.

The cultural problems run both directions.

We once sat at the next table to a Russian couple in a Chamonix Michelin two-star restaurant, the maître d' didn't speak Russian nor did they speak a word of French. In his appalling English the maître 'd laboured his way through the entire menu, trying to translate the flowery French dish names into English, he really struggled and it seemed to take an hour.

The couple were obviously as uninformed at the end of the ordeal as at the beginning. They looked very uncomfortable and glanced at each other nervously then handed him back the menu saying in a heavy Russian accent "two steaks, well-done".

 

[Phil the Brit]

Thanks for all the replies so far guys. Couple have mentioned St Anton and one Kitzbuhel. Aren't these quite expensive resorts?
Also whist putting this up I was thinking of using Inghams, anyone got any thoughts on them or others?

 

[TridentTested]

Thanks for all the replies so far guys. Couple have mentioned St Anton and one Kitzbuhel. Aren't these quite expensive resorts?
Also whist putting this up I was thinking of using Inghams, anyone got any thoughts on them or others?

Skiing is expensive - end of.

I've used Inghams a few times, just paid for our forthcoming Feb trip with them. I've found them straight to deal with. Last year we had some prepaid vouchers which we hadn't used and I assumed they'd give us the runaround on refunds - I wasn't even going to bother - but my other half rang them and they refunded us by electronic transfer that same day.

Having said that, I'm only using them because we're going to a resort, Levi in Finland, where it is impossible to get to (direct flights) by independent travel. If I was going to any other resort I would put the deal together myself; low-cost airline, car-hire, and airbnb.

 

[Migliore]

House Pirker in St Anton gets my vote.

 

[safrane]

Skiing CAN be cheap!... If you are open about where to go, and can move quickly there are many sites that do last minute trips...My trip to Courchevelle last year was just £200 for a week at 1650 in a catered chalet food and drink inc. I basically went on line on the Thursday evening, booked and set off on the Friday to drive there ready for a Saturday start (it was just me).

Chalet was great, just me and one other family (Mum and two kids...she was frisky too) and as I have all my own kit I just had to pay for a ski pass (140 euro) and lunch on the slopes.

Just one point to note in the small print is that they may push you into another chalet if you end up being the only one booking and I went in the low point of the season (Just after Christmas and New Year)

This period is now creeping up in cost as it is the Russian New Year after ours, but that does equate to some wonderful fireworks in their popular destinations

 

[Mr.Cambio]

SKi can be cheap if you go to Bansko, Bulgaria. It's good, but it is not Austria.

 

[Maser Sod]

Thanks for all the replies so far guys. Couple have mentioned St Anton and one Kitzbuhel. Aren't these quite expensive resorts?
Also whist putting this up I was thinking of using Inghams, anyone got any thoughts on them or others?

I used Inghams a few years ago and found them ok. I've actually never had a serious problem with any operator.

FWIW, I've skiied in both St Anton and Kitzbuhel, and didn't find them nearly as expensive as some French resorts. Really, there aren't many cheap places left. I used to ski Bulgaria alot, but gave up about 6 years ago, as that got expensive too. When I first went there around ten years ago, you could get a pint of beer in your hotel for 1 lev (about 40p!).

Cost really depends on how you do your skiing. Most ski packages are expensive because you are paying for the convenience (ski back to hotel, operator arranges everything, etc.). You can get cheap deals, but invariably these are to resorts which are either quite limited in their runs, or - worse - haven't had much snow.

My skiing usually entails a return easyjet flight (100 quid + bags), an Ibis hotel (40 quid/night, sharing) and a daily ski pass (30 quid).

That's about 600 quid for a week, which is neither super-cheap nor super-expensive, but I know what I'm getting.

 

[TridentTested]

Skiing CAN be cheap!...

It can be. I have my own place, I keep my own transport over there, I have my own equipment (several times over), I have shareholders' discount which gives me an annual pass for the price normal punters pay for three weeks' skiing, therefore if I ski more than three weeks in a year I'm skiing for free.

Take all of that into account and a week's skiing costs me £55 LGW>GVA.

But for the average person buying a package it is dear. That's why I suggested using low-cost airlines and airbnb.